JHolko Photography Latest News and Updates
The current May 2015 issue of the AIPP The Working Pro magazine features a short article (along with photographs) on my Polar Photography workshops and specialisation in the Polar Photography genre. You can download the complete article by clicking on the image below. The full edition of the Working Pro magazine is available for free to AIPP members.
Congratulations to the fifth print winners ‘Ronny Nielson, Brian Peters and Rachel Mailais’, for the photograph of the month for May 2015: ‘Ice Bear’. This month I had three comments come in within just seconds of each other so have decided to give away one print each to the first three to comment.
What Ronny said: Great capture of the polarbear. Shows it in its environment and how isolated these animals live. And how they are the king in the arctic.
What Peter Said: This is an absolutely magnificent image of a threatened species in an endangered environment. I’m hoping to get something half as good when I’m in the Arctic in July. This image has my name all over it.
What Rachel Said: Great shot, Joshua. A gorgeous bear out for a stroll, blending in its white environment. It seems to suddenly notice you, kind of wondering what is this new type of animal on it the horizon?
Congratulations Ronnie, Brian and Rachel, you were the first, and your prints will be sent to you at the end of May when I return home from the South Island of New Zealand.
Keep an eye out on my blog for the next print giveaway with the June photograph of the month. Remember the best way to get instant updates is to subscribe via email.
My photograph of the month for May 2015 follows on the Polar Bear theme from last month. In fact, this was the same Polar Bear as the previous photograph; although this image was taken a couple of days earlier and in a different location. The bear surrounded by winter ice with its paw raised, mid step, walking straight toward the camera is a powerful iconic image of the world’s largest land predator. My heart was racing when I took this image and it rates as one of the most exciting experiences I have had in the field photographing wildlife. The bear was in hunting mode, prowling the ice in search of food. It would stop occasionally and test the strength of the ice, smell at a particular place and then move on. It watched me intently as I crouched behind my snowmobile making images until it was time to move on before the bear got to close.You can Win a free Fine art Print 13″ x 19″ of this photograph including shipping anywhere in the world. All you need do is to be the first to comment on this post on the home page with your thoughts on why you like this photograph or why you would like to own a print of the image and then share the post with your preferred social media outlet. Just keep in mind that due to my hectic travel schedule it may take me some time to make and post out each print so if you are the lucky winner for a given month I ask that you jut exercise a little patience and as soon as I am back in my studio in Australia and as soon as practical I will make the print and send it to you – free of charge. Each print will be made and personally signed by me with the same care and attention to detail I exercise on my large gallery prints. There will be a total of twelve prints to win throughout the calendar year. The first four prints of the year were won by Fred Jennings, Chris Roberts, Caroline Hind and Nita Gulbas and their prints have now been delivered, framed by them and are hanging on their walls.
Good luck and don’t forget in order to win the print you need to be the first to comment here on the home page on the May photograph of the Month for the 2015 calendar year with your thoughts on why you like the photograph or why you would like to own a print and to then share the post with your social media outlet of choice.
Over the last few days the 2015 Epson Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year competition has been running here in Melbourne at 1140 studios. I attended both days to watch the judging and it was fantastic to see such a high standard of prints again this year (as well as a record number of entries). Although I won multiple categories, the highest scoring print and the overall title of 2014 Epson Victorian Professional Photographer of the Year last year I put no expectations on myself for my entries this year and decided I would enter just for the sheer joy of the print making process. Quite honestly, removing any expectation of my potential results was really quite liberating and I think I enjoyed the entire process from capture to print and competition entry more than I ever have in the past.
From my previous post on these awards: The AIPP National and State awards are two of the few remaining competitions to actually judge the finished print and they do so using a panel of judges all deemed experts in their respective genres and accredited as Masters of Photography through their years of success in this arena. Prints are judged in a controlled lighting environment and assessed for their content, originality as well as technical craftsmanship. The judging is enthralling to watch and can be quite nerve wracking if you are a first time entrant as the standard of work is incredibly high. In brief, prints are scored out of 100 with images judged less than 70 being deemed not of professional standard. Prints judged between 71 and 79 are considered strong professional practice. Images judged 80-84 are awarded a Silver and are considered strong professional practice of an award standard. Scores of 85-89 are given a Silver with Distinction and demonstrate superior imagination, craft and skill. Prints judged 90-94 exhibit excellence in visual communication, craft and skill. And finally those rare few images that reach 96-100 are considered to have exceptional vision, creativity, innovation, master craftsmanship and skill. Very few prints score Gold awards in these competitions and even fewer reach the top tier of Gold with Distinction.
This year I entered both the Landscape and Science, Wildlife and Wild Places categories. Entering the Landscape category was a really tough decision for me as this category has an anything goes post production mantra that is in conflict with my own ethos and ethics for image manipulation. I decided I would enter anyway just to see how my prints would fare against others in this category. As it turned out – they fared remarkably well. Two of my landscape images scored solid Silver with Distinctions with scores of 86 and 86 respectively. My remaining two landscape photographs also scored solid silver awards with an 81 and 83. Three of my Science, Wildlife and Wild Places photographs (my preferred category) scored Silver with Distinctions with scores of 89, 89 and 85 respectively. Two of those three were just one point removed from a Gold Award. My fourth image in the category scored an 84 Silver Award.
All of the prints were printed on Moab Somerset Museum Rag. This wonderful paper has continued to remain my all-time favourite stock for fine art photography prints.
Arctic Fox Snow Storm – 89 Silver with Distinction Award Science, Wildlife and Wild Places Category
Arctic Foxes Sparring – 89 Silver with Distinction Award Science, Wildlife and Wild Places Category
Abandoned Baby Ring Seal – 85 Silver with Distinction Award Science, Wildlife and Wild Places Category
Arctic Fox Attack – 84 Silver Award Science, Wildlife and Wild Places Category
Dune on Fire – 86 Silver with Distinction Award Landscape Category
Fiery Fingers – 86 Silver with Distinction Award Landscape Category
Dunes and Light – 81 Silver Award Landscape Category
Golden Dune – 83 Silver Award Landscape Category
Now its time to put the 2015 VPPY Awards behind me and get some sleep. In just a few hours time I will be headed to the South Island of New Zealand for my 2015 Masterclass Workshop.
The latest issue number #28 of Extraordinary Vision magazine features Part One of a series of Articles I recently penned on creating Landscape Photography with Mystery and Emotion. Look for Part Two and Part Three in subsequent issues. Extraordinary Vision is a free magazine available for mobile devices and can be downloaded from iTunes or Google Store.
www.WILDNATUREPHOTOTRAVEL.com 